How To Get A Project Management Certificate Online

How To Get Your Project Management Certificate From Home

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The project management industry is thriving and offers a number of unique, flexible, and lucrative opportunities for those who are willing to put in the necessary legwork and academic training to become certified in the field.

As the Project Management Institute (PMI) explains, “Project managers are change agents: they make project goals their own and use their skills and expertise to inspire a sense of shared purpose within the project team. They enjoy the organized adrenaline of new challenges and the responsibility of driving business results.”

Project management is a unique profession; there are a wide range of positions and industries you can work in with a certification. There are project managers in architecture, construction, retail, manufacturing, e-commerce, IT, and everything in between. Having said that, pay can vary rather dramatically. Those in fields like IT and engineering can earn healthy six-figure salaries, while those in other niches might start out well below that.

While there may not be a singular path in the project management field, there’s clearly an upward trajectory. And should you choose to pursue a career in the field, you’ll most likely want to get a project management certificate.

There are a number of different types of certification, but the Project Management Professional, or PMP, is considered the gold standard. In this article, we’re going to walk you through what it takes to get a project management certificate online, from the convenience of your own home. There are a variety of different certificate options, tools, platforms, and resources you can use, and we’ll highlight a few of the best ones so you can be as prepared as possible.

Before diving into the nuts and bolts of what it looks like to pursue a project management certificate online, let’s set a few expectations:

It’s going to require a lot of your time. Getting a project management certificate isn’t like getting a driver’s license or showing up to a couple of meetings in order to join a local club. It’s going to take hours and hours of your time spread out over many months. If you don’t have the time to dedicate to project management, then you’ll want to hold off until you have a clearer schedule.

You’ll need to be disciplined. Anytime you take an online course, there’s an extra degree of self-discipline involved. Nobody is going to show up on your doorstep and call you out if you miss an assignment or don’t watch a video lecture. The onus is on you to stay on track and keep pushing through.

Try not to get discouraged. There will be plenty of times where you’ll think to yourself, “Why am I doing this?” The key is to keep your eye on the prize and think about the long-term benefits of having a project management certificate. For those who are willing to push through, the rewards are significant.

Difficult? Yes. Worth it? Absolutely. If you’re looking for opportunities to grow professionally, a project management certificate has a lot to offer. Getting the certificate online makes it both accessible and convenient. We've rounded up some of the best e-learning resources, so you can begin the process of attaining your project management certificate.

EdX

Founded by MIT and Harvard University in 2012, edX is one of the largest online learning destinations on the internet, offering a variety of high-quality courses and programs from leading institutions for free. And because edX partners with more than 90 global companies — including universities, nonprofits, and accredited institutions — the degrees and certificates earned by students are widely recognized across many industries.

There are a variety of different project management courses on edX that will prepare you for certification. Here are a few of the top ones:

Project Management Life Cycle

Also from Rochester Institute of Technology, this 10-week course touches on the project management lifecycle from start to finish. It’s a good overview course that is designed to provide students with the knowledge needed to build a solid foundation in the field. In this course, students will learn the roles and responsibilities of a project manager, how to initiate, plan, and execute projects, as well as techniques on closing projects. This course provides more of a classic approach to project management and will give you a skill set that can be transferred to a variety of industries. Again, you have the option to take the course for free, or a certificate can be purchased as part of the program.

IT Project Management

Brought to you by the University of Washington, this course is a little bit pricier than the others, but it is the ideal choice for those who wish to specialize in Project Management for the IT Industry. In this course you will learn everything from high-level strategies to set up, maintain, and close a PMO, to identifying personal and performance competencies necessary for project management in IT. The program features a series of 4-week courses that ultimately prepare students to pursue industry certification in IT-specific project management. Unlike the other two, this course is only available through purchase.

International Project Management

If you’re looking to become certified in international project management — which has its own intricacies — this 9-week program from Rochester Institute of Technology walks students through the unique challenges associated with managing projects in a global environment. The course will teach you how the various aspects of culture can impact a project, how to manage global teams, build trust, and set up a framework that is efficient for global collaboration. While you have to pay to receive a certificate, those who are simply interested in learning the basics of project management for their own knowledge can take the course for free.

Note: some edX project management courses are held on a continual basis, while others have specific start dates. Be sure to check early and often to find a program that fits your schedule.

Udemy

Udemy is a little different from both edX and Coursera in that its courses and programs are created by individuals, as opposed to universities and colleges. With that being said, there are still a number of really good learning resources and courses. The Udemy tools are a great supplement to your Project Mangement Certificate courses from Coursera or Edx, and they won't break the bank.

Project Management Professional (PMP) Exam Prep Seminar

One of the best deals on Udemy is the Project Management Professional (PMP) Exam Prep Seminar. With a price tag of just $10, this exam prep resource gives students everything they need to pass the PMP exam, including the 35 exam contact hours from a PMI registered education provider.

PMP Practice Test Course

Another good resource is the PMP Practice Tests course. It features three practice tests with 100 questions each, which help students who have completed project management courses and are getting ready to take a PMP certification exam.

Coursera

Coursera is similar to edX in that it offers a number of online courses from different institutions around the world, including Stanford, Johns Hopkins, Penn, Duke, and more. And while there are a number of free courses, one of the most popular and well respected is the Applied Project Management course from University of California (UCI), Irvine.

Applied Project Management

The Applied Project Management course costs $2,980 and consists of four, 6-week courses that students finish in a total of six months. While significantly more costly than the edX courses previously highlighted, The Applied Project Management course is well worth the price. The first 6-week program is all about launching projects and helps students understand how to understand stakeholder influence and validate project selection. The second program focuses on project planning and addresses how to best define and measure success. The next program is all about project execution and goes in-depth regarding different methods and topics, like risk management. The final 6-week program is the “Project Management Practicum,” which gives students the chance to apply everything they’ve learned. At the end of the course, students get a professional certificate from UCI Division of Continuing Education and Coursera.

YouTube

Honestly, you can’t go wrong with YouTube as a learning resource. There are tons of free videos from professionals with hundreds of years of combined experience. The key is to find channels that are reliable and worthy of your time. A couple of the best are:

Project Manager

This is one of the most popular project management channels on YouTube, and rightly so. It features hundreds of free videos, lessons, and courses and is a good primer for anyone looking to learn the basics. This channel is very appealing to people who are looking for quick, digestible content on important topics. Many videos are just 3 or 4 minutes long, while most come in under 10 minutes.

Project Management Institute Channel

If you’re looking for more insights into the project management industry – as opposed to just courses and learning materials — the official Project Management Institute channel has a lot to offer on this front. This channel is helpful as a supplement to academic coursework and helps students learn about some of the more practical parts of the industry — like understanding organizational cultures and building trust.

While you won’t be able to get an actual certificate with a YouTube course, you can certainly gather a ton of information and utilize it as a learning supplement in your pursuit of certification.

E Book

Joseph Phillips - Project Management Professional Study Guide

Published by the same author of the two Udemy courses highlighted in this article, this eBook study guide provides a convenient and comprehensive resource that prepares students for PMP exam certification.

Tools And Materials

Just as a plumber would never show up to a job site without his toolbox and equipment, an aspiring project manager shouldn’t approach the certification process without the right tools and materials. Here are a few specific ones you may need:

Microsoft Office

This should probably go without saying, but you’ll need some basic programs installed on your computer. These include staples like Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. These will come in handy as you take notes, work on projects, and download study materials from course instructors.

Evernote

Online courses and study programs are great because they allow you direct access to tons of resources without having to leave the comfort of your home, but there’s also a downside here. With so many different programs and accounts, it’s sometimes challenging to organize everything. This is where Evernote comes into play. It’s a platform that helps you organize everything into a single, centralized platform for quick access. If nothing else, it helps you feel like you’re in control.

Skype

It’s a well-known fact that most people perform better in the classroom when they have other people to help them work through issues and tackle challenging subjects. Whether you’re taking a project management course with a friend or you meet classmates online, it’s helpful to “meet” and discuss material from time to time. Skype video calls are a great way to do this when you’re in different locations around the world.

Google Drive

Managing homework assignments, reports, files, classroom documents, and other resources is a lot easier when you can access it from anywhere. As opposed to keeping all of these files on a physical device, you should store them in the cloud — using a platform like Google Drive. This allows you to pull them up anywhere and share them with anyone. This way you can review your study materials on your phone during your subway ride or check in on a classmate's feedback from a hotel computer. Google Drive also makes it easy for multiple people to access and revise documents in real-time, without the need for emailing back and forth with new versions.

Quizlet

If you’ve gone through courses and classes in the past without using Quizlet, you’re about to wonder what took you so long to discover it. Quizlet is an awesome online platform that lets you search from millions of different study sets on thousands of subjects and get exactly the help you need to ace all your tests. With flashcards, games, courses, diagrams, and more, there are resources for every learning style.

StudyBlue

There are many different study tools on the internet, but StudyBlue is unique, as it’s built around group study and collaboration. This platform that allows students from different courses and programs to share and access study materials, ask and answer specific questions, and even collaborate on group projects. The site also has a content library built in, which is useful when you’re looking for basic information on a specific topic.

Closing Tips

As you prepare to take courses in project management and pursue certification in the specialty of your choice, it’s important that you set realistic goals and timelines so that you know how you’re progressing. For most people, it takes at least six months to complete a course and study for the exam. It often takes close to a year, if you’re pursuing a particularly rigorous certificate. Speak with those who have been in your shoes before, read up on the requirements for certification, and create a measurable timeline to guide you from start to finish.

Once you complete the project management courses of your choosing, you must continue to stay on top of the material you’ve learned. Not only do you need to keep the information fresh in your mind in order to pass the exam for certification, but you’ll also find the content valuable as you continue to pursue a career in project management.

Hopefully, the resources highlighted in this article will help you feel better prepared for this exciting next chapter in your professional life. While project management certification isn’t easy by any means, it’s accessible by anyone with an internet connection. Even if you didn't study anything related to project management in your school days, it is never too late to learn a new skill. All you need are the tools, materials, and some of the resources noted in this article and you can get started. What are you waiting for?

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